Shadow: Left Unbalanced
by Child at Heart Forever
Summary: Everyone has someone to turn to. Someone who will comfort them. In others' cases, someone to run from and chase, or someone to steal from and pursue. Everyone but Shadow...where's his match? Why is he so lonely? One-shot. Sonamy Taiream Knouge Silvaze


**Okay, I was thinking about pairings, and if done somewhat cannonly, Shadow would be left with no one. So I wanted to write about that. i don't know how it managed to grow to this...but i like it. A bit sad, but enjoyable.**

* * *

Shadow: Left Unbalanced

_An oddly cold night in Westopolis. Even more odd, Shadow enjoyed it. It seemed to freeze his mind from his day in Station Square. His friends (or what everyone assumed to be his friends) hadn't planned on running into him today, but of all days, Shadow was lonely._

_And could there have been a worse day to do so?_

* * *

Shadow the Hedgehog had nothing to do. It was his day off, he had no "errands" to run, and there really wasn't anywhere to go…

Frankly, Shadow was bored…and desperate.

He was in the middle of Station Square, just…looking around. Any other day, Sonic would be begging for a race, Rouge would be wanting to go steal something with him, Tails needed to analyze him for who knows why…and Cream innocently wanted to spend time with him. Today, no one was bothering him!

"In fact…no one has been bothering me lately…" he thought to himself. "Maybe I'll go bother Sonic for a race! I just really need something to do…"

With that, Shadow ran-or skated- off to find Sonic.

`~^.^~`

He found the hedgehog hiding around a building , peeking around the corner. Shadow raised an eyebrow and walked up behind him.

"Sonic?"

"Gah! I thought-oh, it's just Shadow…"

"What do you mean 'it's _just_ Shadow'?!"

Sonic smirked and scratched the back of his head. "I mean, it's just you. I thought you were…"

"SONIC!"

Sonic yipped in a high pitched voice and dove behind Shadow. Amy tackled Shadow in a hug, until Shadow yelled at her to let go.

"Oh…only Shadow…"

"_Okay, am I suddenly not important?!"_

"_Only_ Shadow-" Shadow began, ready to start the same speech he was about to give Sonic.

"Yeah, I guess I thought you were Sonic in this dark alley…"

_"Why ARE we in a dark alley…"_

Shadow's face went blank as Sonic suddenly sprang out.

"I told you you'll never catch me!" he laughed. Amy stomped her foot, but with a smile, and ran toward Sonic. He scoffed as he jumped out of the way and landed in front of Shadow. Shadow just shook his head and asked what he came here to ask.

"Hey Sonic…you up for a race?"

"Not today Shadow…I'm trying to win a bet with Amy!"

"Uh…"

Sonic steered sharply to the left, avoiding the hammer meant for him but hitting Shadow instead.

"What kind of a bet is this!?"

Amy giggled as she patted Shadow. "Sonic said he'd take me on a date of my choice if I manage to catch him before 5 o'clock…"

Sonic ducked again, and Amy hit Shadow again. Shadow almost had the nerve to break that hammer in half…

"…and when she _doesn't_, she'll leave me alone for a week!"

Sonic suddenly took off, Amy only 5 steps behind.

"See ya later Shadow!" they both called. Sonic made the huge mistake of turning around to wave, giving Amy the perfect opportunity to wrestle him to the ground.

"Ha! I hope you'll take me to the movies!"

"I did that on purpose because you kept hitting Shadow and wanted to avenge him-"

"_Yeah right_! Swallow your pride and pay for popcorn and everything!"

"Ugh fine! What are we going to see?"

"Romantic chick flick!!!"

"Someone **kill** me…"

Shadow just looked on at what took place. Sonic turned down a race-_for a date bet with Amy Rose_?! Well, there went two potential people he could hang out with…luckily he wasn't desperate enough to ask to join them…

"But am I desperate enough to see Tails?" he thought, still watching Sonic and Amy arguing on the way to the movies. "…I got nothing better to do…"

`~^.^~`

Shadow was actually surprised to see Tails not home. After all, just about a week and a few days ago Tails was dying to see exactly how Shadow was able to sustain life, but Shadow knew all too well that would be painful to the extreme and denied on the spot. This went on for 3 days, and suddenly Tails gave up. Now, Shadow found himself wondering why…

"Tails isn't one to leave without reason…maybe there's a note or something…" Shadow guessed. Speak of the object, one large sticky note was on his fridge.

_Sonic-_

_Hanging with Cream today. Don't follow…besides, didn't you have a bet with Amy anyway?_

_-Tails._

"Cream's house? What is he doing there…" Shadow glanced to the floor to see a gray skid mark and a broken window. Something said Sonic forgot and Amy had crashed in the window… "Freak pair…"

Still, Tails at Cream's house instead of bugging Shadow for an experiment? Shadow shrugged and decided to use his G.U.N. skills to find out.

`~^.^~`

Vanilla opened the door with a scared face, then breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh! Only Shadow…good thing you weren't Sonic! I almost scared you!"

_"Seriously, only Shadow?"_

"What brings you here? Cream's been so busy having fun with Tails that she hasn't mentioned _you_ much in a while…"

Shadow folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Really…well, I came for Tails, but now I'm interested in Cream as well."

"Oh um…okay. They're in Cream's room…"

Shadow nodded and invited himself in. Vanilla scratched her head, but said nothing. Tails and Cream were simply sitting on the bed, playing with Cheese. Well, it looked like they were playing with Cheese- except Cheese was talking…"

"What in the-" started the Ultimate Life-Form.

Cream and Tails stared at the doorway and screamed. Tails continued until Cheese said, "It's fine Tails…it's just Shadow, don't worry!"

_"This is getting old…"_

"I see…" Tails sighed. Cream patted his shoulder.

"There's nothing to worry about! Mama wouldn't let Sonic in anyway! Besides, he's on a date with Amy!"

"There's no way Amy can catch Sonic-"

"She did. I was there…"

Tails stared at Shadow, until Shadow gave a look that said "I'm not lying, so deal with it".

"Okay…what are _you_ doing here Shadow?"

"To ask you the same thing…"

Tails suddenly beamed proudly and held up Cheese. "I've been working on a special bowtie to help Cheese talk! I didn't want Sonic to find me 'cause I wanted to surprise him!"

"Yep! I can talk now! Cool, right?" Cheese chirped. Cream suddenly wrapped Tails in a hug.

"Thank you so much Tails! Now I'll be able to understand Cheese!"

Tails just grinned, though Shadow saw a light blush grow on his cheeks. He patted her until she let go and started talking to Cheese. Tails got up and motioned for Shadow to leave the room with him. While Cream played with Cheese, Shadow leaned against the hallway wall and made a gesture for Tails to get on with it.

"Why did you follow me here?"

Shadow sighed. "If you honestly must know, I was curious as to why you suddenly stopped begging me be apart of your zany experiments. It's been a few days hasn't it?"

Tails squirmed a bit. "I still really want to figure out how Gerald Robotnik managed to successfully create you-besides with Black Doom's blood…"

"Yeah, I'm still looking forward to it."

"…but…do you swear not to tell anyone?"

Shadow's fierce gaze suddenly melted. "You're trusting me with this?"

Tails shook his head. "N-never mind…you wouldn't be able to keep it a secret, and I hardly want to tell **you**-but I need to get it off my chest! I'm afraid to even tell Sonic!"

Shadow suddenly had his full attention on Tails. "Try me."

"Well…a while ago...I discovered I…'like' Cream…"

Shadow instantly went back to not caring. For a moment, he had thought Tails was going to reveal some historical secret like the cure for the common cold or discovering Eggman really did have some egg-DNA or-

"Shadow, are you okay?"

Said hedgehog didn't realize he had fell along with his disappointment.

"**Cream** is why you suddenly stopped trying to dissect me?!"

"Shoosh! I can't focus on figuring you out if my mind is on Cream and...!"

_"Thank God he won't be cutting my heart then suddenly thinking its Cream's and stopping on the spot…"_

"…besides, Cheese's Chao translator really made her happy, and now I'm going to make Sonic proud too! Two birds with one stone!"

Shadow gave a simple nod.

"So I'll be putting off that experiment for a bit, all right Shadow?"

"MM-hm…"

"Tails! Cheese wants to tell you something!" Cream shouted from her room. Tails suddenly grinned and called back.

"Be there in a sec! See ya Shadow…"

Tails jogged back to the room, and Shadow peeked through the door as Cheese flew up and said something, then all three laughed. Tails? Liking Cream? Where was he when this happened? Shadow felt…odd as he passed Vanilla talking to Vector, who Shadow didn't want to know how _or_ when arrived…

"Are you done with your visit Shadow?" Vanilla asked, just as Vector was getting to the punch line in a joke.

"Hey!"

"Yeah…I'll be leaving…"

"feel free to come back anytime!"

"Why am I not allowed to come back anytime?"

"Oh, Vector…what am I going to with you?"

Shadow left before Vector answered.

`~^.^`~

"Okay…Sonic's with Amy, Tails is with Cream…Vector with Vanilla…_urgh_…I hardly know Knuckles…"

Shadow then snapped his fingers. "Rouge! She's on her day off too! Wow…I must be pretty pathetic to want to visit Sonic and Tails before my best friend…" he grunted, now skating off towards Rouge's House. When he arrived, he was only half-surprised to see her gone, but more surprised to see Omega there.

"Omega? What're you…"

"Friend Rouge confirmed to be heading for treasure. Did not say what. Did say for Omega to stay here and clean house so Omega can get new weapons to destroy Eggman!"

Shadow was usually used to Omega talking like that, but today it just caught him off guard. "Um…okay…do you want to, I don't know, do something?"

Wow this was awkward. Shadow was asking _Omega_ to hang out!

"Can not. Rouge said if Shadow asked Omega to leave, Omega punch out window. Sorry Friend Shadow-"

"Whoa! What the hell?"

Omega performed an upper-cut on Shadow, sending him flying through the closed window. Knowing Rouge, she'd probably make him pay for something that was her fault in the first place. Shadow stood up, called Omega a traitor, and suddenly wanted to kill Rouge instead of kill his boredom with her. Now with a mission, Shadow figured what "treasure" she was probably after. The calendar placed on the ceiling _-Must be a bat thing,_ Shadow thought- told him more than enough.

_6 o'clock-head to Angel Island to get one of two treasures…maybe both!_

_`~^.^~`_

Shadow Chaos Controlled onto the floating island, fists, powers, and gun ready to assassinate Rouge. He heard giggling toward the north and stalked in that direction. Keeping his cover from behind a bush, Shadow managed to make out Knuckles simply sitting on the Master Emerald, and Rouge swooping in from the sky to attack. She kicked Knuckles in the back, sending him soaring into a pillar. She quickly tried to pick the emerald up, but Knuckles was back on his feet and punching Rouge back.

"So…back for another round this week?" Knuckles huffed. Rouge got up from the ground and smirked.

"Only if you think you can handle it. I almost had the Emerald last time, but you _had_ to be a knucklehead and catch it before it fell!"

This sparked the anger in the echidna and soon a giant dust cloud started to form. Shadow secretly hoped Knuckles would beat Rouge senseless for him. That way, no actual killing would be involved. Several minutes later, the grunts and poundings instantly stopped, and the cloud cleared. Rouge had Knuckles pinned to the ground with a kiss-_and Knuckles wasn't beating her to a pulp_?! Shadow let out a small yelp of surprise and completely fell into the bush. Glancing up, he saw Rouge smirk again and stand up.

"Looks like I win tonight!"

"…whatever! Take your win! I still have the Master Emerald!"

Rouge was going to comment, but she just closed her mouth and smiled.

"Yeah…you still have it…until next week!"

Rouge ran a finger under Knuckles' chin, making him blush.

"…and who knows? Maybe I won't want it then either!"

She flew off, Shadow completely forgetting his vowed revenge on her to gawk. His eyes shifted to Knuckles, grumbling something about a stupid bat with a grin, and leaned against the Emerald in a relaxed look. Shadow, now utterly confused, shouted "Chaos control!" and left Knuckles with an expression that wondered if he was hearing things.

^*^

Shadow paced the southernmost street in the city. "I don't get it. The _one_ time in a blue moon I actually want to do anything with those idiots, and they turn me down! For someone of the opposite gender! Sonic didn't want to race. Tails didn't want to use his smart mumbo jumbo! Rouge was flirting with her worst _enemy_! What is the world coming to?!"

"Sheesh Shadow. Take it easy…" Espio scoffed while sipping some tea at a near-by restaurant. "You starting to scare me. What happened to Mr. I-Hate-The-World?"

Shadow threw his hands in the air. "I do not hate the world! I just hate everything that _happens_ in it! Along with all the betraying idiots!!"

Espio calmly took another sip of tea. "Betraying idiots? Shadow, you're always so busy trying to avoid everyone, your friends moved on. About time, in **my** opinion.."

Shadow was about to roar out a very nasty insult, but then stopped. "What do you mean by that?"

Espio shrugged. "They've gotten tired of wasting their time for you, saw something more in each other, and now they have time to waste with someone that isn't you."

Shadow's eye twitched as he grabbed his stomach. "Sonic hates going on dates with Amy-_especially seeing Chick Flicks_! He's always telling her to leave him alone, and running off-"

"If you were around, you'd notice he's slowly easing up. I wouldn't say he's completely head over heels for Amy, but he's starting to understand her and doesn't want to keep hurting her."

"Tails-"

"Young love. Called "crushes" in their years-"

"I _know_ what it's called! But how-"

Espio put up a finger, then continued to sip. "Tails has been worrying about some life-form experiment-"

Shadow cringed.

"-and was itching to work on something. Cream came over one day, told him he was really smart and clever, and helped him get the idea for Cheese."

"How do you know that?!"

"Who was the one who brought Cream over in the first place?"

Shadow shakily fell into the chair across from Espio. "What a-about Rouge? Knuckles would never-"

"I don't know much about them, but I would say Knuckles just suddenly clicked and now-"

"They're having weekly fighting dates!"

The chameleon smirked. "I'm not surprised. They are older, after all, and not just some petty crush or teenage hormones."

Shadow remained silent. Espio realized he finished the tea, and asked the waitress for a bread roll. As she left, Espio returned his attention to the hedgehog across from him.

"This brings us back to you. Who's the girl in your life? Who's the one to balance you out? Where's your match?"

Shadow didn't answer. He just responded with a question for Espio. "Why are you even here-and telling me what's wrong with my life?"

"It was honestly random. I just came for a late night snack, and I heard you shouting insanely to the sky. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Leave me alone, maybe?"

"Stop trying to change the subject. You're lonely because you really can't call the guys close friends, and all your options for a girl friend are gone! Cream, well, she's way too young anyway. Amy's not giving up on Sonic, and Rouge looks like she claimed her territory on Knuckles."

"…"

"…you know what I mean."

Shadow stood up and slammed a frustrated fist onto the innocent table, nearly flipping it. "No! My friends aren't _all_ taken! There's still one more living being that _remotely_ resembles a friend of mine on this planet who I know for **sure** doesn't have a girlfriend! There's no possible way he _**can**_! And this conversation just made me desperate enough to go see him just to prove you wrong!"

The waitress returned with the roll, and Espio quickly chowed down.

"If you're talking about who I _think_ you're talking about, then you have been out of the loop _way_ too long."

Shadow turned around and scowled at Espio. "Me being out of the loop? I bet you wouldn't be here if you knew Vector is with Vanilla the Rabbit right now-and Charmy is alone at your headquarters…with all of your ninja weapons!"

Espio sprang up, the half eaten roll flinging into Shadow's face. "**WHAT**!? I'm going to _kill_ Vector! I even told him I was leaving…"

Espio was gone before Shadow could rub it in his face. Shadow briefly stared at his after-flash, then clenched his fist.

"Espio is wrong…not all my friends have moved on…this last person would never_ ever_ dare to ditch me…"

Later-

"Hey Silver!" Shadow shouted, not really in the mood to annoy Silver like he usually did. Silver had been in love with Blaze, but she was sealed in some other dimension that Sonic and Tails swore they had been to before. There was no _way_ Silver had fallen in love again during his absence. Silver was leaning up against a tree in the park, around 8 pm, suddenly looking up at the sight of Shadow.

"H-Hi Shadow…"

"Can the fear act! I'm not going to hurt you…_today_…"

Silver jumped up. "Really?! Great! Now you won't beat me up in front of her!"

Shadow's jaw dropped. "Who her say what…?!"

Silver seemed kind of jumpy, hopping from one foot to the other while explaining. "Well…you know after I decided to move to the past-well, I guess present- you've been_ really_ bothering me?"

Shadow sighed happily and nodded. "Yeah…"

"Well, I've been thinking, and the others were telling me about how you just wanted to be alone, and want nothing to do with anyone anymore-"

"OH REALLY?!"

"Don't kill me…augh…" Silver whimpered. "I'm just telling the truth…"

"…fine, continue…"

"Yeah! You were never around, and everyone just…hung out with each other! Then Tails fell in love with Cream, Rouge and Knuckles are a secret pair, and Sonic is getting closer to Amy…"

Shadow had a sudden burst of happiness. "And you're a girlfriendless loner like me?!" Silver gaped at Shadow. "**Theatrically** speaking…"

"I was, but then I realized that if I was able to warp here, then why not warp to wherever Blaze was and bring her here!"

"How did you-"

"Trust me, I could find my Blaze anywhere with a Chaos Emerald…"

"…you managed to find what dimension Blaze sealed herself into before the recon that we shouldn't even know about and now she's-"

"Silver! I'm back!" Blaze called, running up to Silver. She ran into his open arms, and he laughed.

"Took you long enough."

Blaze placed her hands on her hips. "Ugh, men…so are you ready to head back to my house?"

Silver nodded. "Sure am! Just having a friendly chat with Shadow here…"

"_Why you little-"_

Silver really didn't know **why** Shadow was riled up, but knew pain was going to be coming his way. He pushed Blaze behind his back and captured Shadow in a psychic barrier, right before the Ultimate Life-Form used Chaos Spear.

"I don't know why you're so hot-headed today, but I'm not going to let you ruin my day with Blaze! We've been fine without you, and truth be told, I'm actually _glad_ we haven't been hanging out! You're not treating me like a-"

Blaze place a finger on his mouth. "Don't get foul."

"Sorry…"

Shadow hadn't heard anything past "been fine without you". Yes, he was _slightly_ mean to Silver, but he couldn't resist! Besides, he was one of his closest friends…besides Rouge, Omega and occasionally Sonic, but they've all gave up on Shadow and now **Silver** was? What shocked Shadow the most…Silver stood up to _him_! He usually cowered in the nearest corner and pleaded not to shoot him. What made this any…

"It's Blaze isn't it? You're just trying to be tough because _Blaze_ is here now!" he whispered loudly. "Let me down Silver."

"Maybe it's not because of Blaze! Maybe I'm tired of you-"

Shadow turned around and walked away before Silver could finish once he was free. "No, it's always someone else. I get it now…"

"What exactly_ happened_ before I came?"

"I don't know…things have been okay since you arrived a week and a few days ago…"

What was so significant about that date?! That's when everyone seemed to leave him alone…

"…I'm just not meant to be with anyone…friend or beyond…"

Silver and Blaze, confused at what just unfolded, but turned to the opposite direction and headed back to Blaze's house.

"I'm sorry I nearly took my anger out on you Silver…"

Silver heard, but he wasn't sure if it was Shadow, or the wind rushing through the trees.

`~^.^~`

An oddly cold night in Westopolis. Even more odd, Shadow enjoyed it. It seemed to freeze his mind from his day in Station Square. His friends (or what everyone assumed to be his friends) hadn't planned on running into him today, but of all days, Shadow was lonely. Too bad he had realized he was too late that day…

"What was on that day? What could make them-" Shadow froze. He knew exactly what happened.

_Two days before "the day", Sonic, Rouge, and Silver had invited Shadow for a late lunch with the gang. Shadow didn't want to join the merriment, and turned them down. So they had discussed Shadow constantly turning them down, and Silver sparked the idea to go save Blaze. Later that night, Rouge and Knuckles had their first "date", Tails found his crush on Cream at his workshop after her compliment, and Sonic and Amy had the bet. Day after, Silver went to find Blaze-and succeeded. Rouge and Knuckles had plans for the next week-and needed some extreme strategies. Tails began his plans for Cheese' Chaos translator. Sonic and Amy were discussing the rules and regulations._

"…I can't believe I forgot…" Shadow whispered on the bench, teeth chattering. "…I had made them all so happy for actually saying I'd be there…and I let them down…"

_Cream excitedly ran up to the door as soon as it rang. Tails had rang the doorbell, and as soon as he saw Cream's excited face stuck out his arms with the over-sized gift. Sonic stood behind him, a pair of balloons in his hands. Amy held the cake, Rouge even had a small gift for her, Silver's gift was having Cream see Blaze again, and Knuckles had made a scene just by showing up!_

_"Happy birthday Cream!" they cried as one._

Shadow had forgotten Cream's birthday party. He honestly didn't mean to forget-he even tried to go! It was the least he could do for ditching them so much. But…he remembered what day it was.

The day Maria died.

It stuck a nerve, and he couldn't bring himself to go.

_Later, after Rouge, Silver, Knuckles, and Blaze had left Cream's House, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Vanilla and Vector (who had taken the job of helping supervise everything) were comforting the birthday girl._

_"Why…didn't he come?" Cream sobbed. Vanilla held her daughter, hugging her._

_"He_ is_ Shadow…maybe something came up…" she soothed._

_"But he promised-he swore! He never has time for us anymore!"_

_Tails couldn't stand to see Cream in tears and tried to cheer her up._

_"C'mon Cream…it was still a fun party! Even without Shadow!"_

_"Yeah! I sure enjoyed hitting the echidna piñata!" Sonic chuckled, hating any one who cried in general._

_Cream started to hic-up as she attempted to dry her tears with her dainty white glove. "You don't get it…what I really wanted for my birthday was for him to come, to at least show he cared about us even slightly! But he didn't and…"_

_She broke out in tears again. Tails asked Sonic if they could leave, and Sonic nodded._

_"Good luck Vector…" Amy whispered on the way out. Vector sighed and followed Vanilla to Cream's room._

_"Well…it just goes to show Shadow-" Tails began, but Sonic cut him off._

_"We'll give him what he wants. We'll leave him alone. He has to work with Rouge, so we can't stop that…Silver's personally been trying to avoid him and probably wants to catch up with Blaze, Knuckles won't even get off that island, and he hardly got to know Shadow…"_

_Amy agreed. "Yeah…besides, I've got my bet with you to focus on!"_

_Sonic smirked. "Let's see if ya can catch me now-not!"_

_Sonic sprinted off, Amy chasing afterward. Tails glanced back at Cream's house one more time, sighed, and flew after his friends._

Shadow brought his knees up to his chin on the bench. His encounters today ran through his head.

Sonic turned down a race-for a date bet with Amy Rose?!

Tails? Liking Cream? Where was he when this happened?

Rouge had Knuckles pinned to the ground with a kiss- and Knuckles wasn't beating her to a pulp?!

"…I'm not going to let you ruin my day with Blaze! We've been fine without you, and truth be told, I'm actually glad we haven't been hanging out!…"

"Betraying idiots? Shadow, you're always so busy trying to avoid everyone, your friends moved on. About time, in my opinion..."

_"Who's the girl in your life? Who's the one to balance you out? Where's your match?"_

Shadow's face tensed up as the rain hit it. The girl in his life…was Maria. Everyone knew that. But everyone _also_ assumed he finally got over it. But when your best friend, only friend, and practically a _sister_ to you died, it might take a while to deal with it. He didn't_ love_ her; unless you counted like a sister. Still…she made him happy, and somehow balanced him out and kept him social.

Her death left him unbalanced…didn't it?

* * *

**Wow. Not the ending I was expecting-that's for sure...**


End file.
